Wow- that was epic. I should probably feel tired but instead I feel lucky and exhilarated !

 After 25 years of marathon running and 10 yrs of ultra running, covering distances up to 100km, I’ve often wondered what the body and mind go through when you run 240km in one go. That’s the distance legend tells us that Greek messenger Pheidippides ran sometime before his widely known 42km run from Marathon to Athens.

So when I first heard about the 240km Coast to Kosciuszko event I was very intrigued. The community of C2K runners and crew helpers that I have met since have had nothing but positive things to say about the event and now I have an even deeper appreciation of why- the Camaraderie, teamwork, respect and resilience. The beach, the hills, the trail, the road, the lake and finally the mountains. The list goes on. 

The process

Applications for the 50 start line spots opened in August but without the preferred 100 mile qualifier I wasn’t expecting to get selected. However to my surprise I received a call from race director Mickey on 25 Sept to offer me a place. I had a week to accept and went about getting approval from Mrs H and seeking thoughts of mates who knew the race. I asked Gary Mullins if he thought I could get through it OK with just 6 weeks to train. He said absolutely yes given the years of running in my legs

So it was game on. I started train and looking to pull together my race crew, vital for this race. Most people opt for a crew of 3, a driver and two pacers who can alternate through the night.

With the covid lockdown and no races I hadn’t been training hard in July and August, but had kept up 60-75km per week. After accepting the race entry my next 5 weeks were 105km, 108km, 130km, 138km and 160km with a power walk on Mondays, some double days and building long Sunday runs to 3 hrs, 42km and 48km. I dropped all my speedwork and focussed on hills and strength. Plus I did plenty of dog walks with our new puppy, all extra time on feet. My goal was just to try and enjoy the race and finish, with a rough target of 28-32 hrs. 

10 days out and we saw what can happen in the alpine region, with heavy snow in the Kosci national park and roads closed. I adjusted my kit, losing the hot weather hats and sun protection and adding more warm layers, gloves and handwarmers. It was going to be cool and wet over the race weekend.

We drove to Eden on Thurs for the evening check in and got set for a wet race ahead.

The start 

35 starters gathered on the beach at 5am for the Welcome to Country and touched the ocean ahead of the 5:30am start. The first 24km are unsupported so I carried 4 gels and a camelback with water. Off we go and after 500m straight on to a steep trail and hurdling over fallen trees before we hit the first road. 

At 24km we met our crew cars and stuck with them for the rest of the race. The field was fairly spread out and I guessed I was about 10^th having made a nice easy start.

I grabbed a bottle of tailwind (1 scoop with 250ml water) which was my main nutrition through to nightfall. I started conservatively and had run the flat at 4:50 to 5:20 pace and walked the hills, of which they were plenty.

After a spell on my own I caught up with Joe and Kay briefly and had a great chat but then had a toilet stop and was back solo.

On towards the 1st checkpoint at 50km with the crew stopping the car every 30 mins to share drinks and banter. Raining gently and up to 13 degrees. The Nike Next % Tempos were comfortable and going OK through the causeway crossings which were knee deep.

On to Big Jack the biggest climb so far, around 600m of vertical over 7km. Walked up at 10 min per km pace but with the wind picking up started getting cold for the first time. Crew cars had to wait at the top due to the narrow road and were a welcome sight. I quickly took off my t shirt and light jacket and added 2 new dry layers.

Plugged on to the 70km checkpoint and re-lubed under arms, around waist and undercarriage quickly given the long day ahead. Plugged on through some more causeways. The unsealed roads were badly rutted with the rain and had to watch my footing. Almost tripped over a maggot-ridden sheep carcass ! All going well, legs good, stomach good and feeling positive.

At 102km we stopped at the famous dead tree for a photo and on to the 107km checkpoint. We saw a couple of other crew cars and I knew a few runners were close but just kept to my own rythmn. I asked my crew to keep a log throughout to try and predict any issues but all was well I still felt 8/10 and I was warm and stomach good. I ate every hour half rotating through a banana or protein ball or salty crisps/peanuts. I had also had a peanut butter sandwich at lunch and 2 CurraNZ blackcurrant capsules every 6 hrs.

Decided to try and enjoy the last few hrs of daylight and get the mind set for the night. Rain still drizzling down but not too heavy. Feet felt ok. Before nightfall we did a kit change, fresh socks and leggings on. This was the only time I sat down all race. Decided not to change shoes as feet were good.

The night 

For now I was still managing to run the flats and downs but there wasn’t much flat road ! At 8:30 it was dark and so one of the crew could join me on the road as a pacer which made the time pass nicely.

On to Dalgety. 148km. Stopped at the village hall checkpoint – quick toilet stop and ate a cup of noodles. This was my slowest km split at 15 mins so cant have stopped for more then 7-8 mins and soon on the move again. 17 hrs gone. Less than 100km to go. 

Temp down to 8 degrees so just made sure I kept moving. The tricky thing was balancing the right clothing so that I wasn’t too warm when running nor too cold when walking. I had a t-shirt, light fleece and rain jacket which I could zip up or down to give some flexibility.

Another big hill to push up and legs starting to tire. Time to get the music going and it was 80s rock from here to the finish on a waterproof Bluetooth speaker carried by my crew mates. 

Kept eating well and had switched back to gels at nightfall, 1 Gu every 30 mins. I had been weeing too frequently on the Tailwind so consciously took less water with the gels

Some downhill sections towards Jindabyne and the road surface was good but was getting harder to run them as my left shin and top of left foot were getting sore. Celebrated hitting the 100 mile mark. Could now see the red flashing light of a runner ahead but stuck to running my own race and not pushing with 80km to go still.

Got through night with just some caffeine gels, saw a lovely wombat cross the road, had one revvie but the expected night demons were never too bad. Did get a couple of back rubs as the muscles were tightening in the cold.

Crew kept my spirits up with some dad jokes over the radio. Kept pushing and reached Jindy lake at 3.30am. Had to run a nasty single track around the lake to the caravan park which sapped my strength. No stop at the checkpoint and on towards the turn off up Kosciuszko Road to Perisher. Due to the heavy cloud cover, didn’t get any benefit of a lift from sunrise at dawn. This was my first real rough patch. Couldn’t get the legs running at all but through 200km and just a hilly marathon to go. Was conscious the summit of Mt Kosci would be tiring so kept holding back and ensuring I could finish. Allowed myself to get a bit excited as I was up into 6th place and wanted to hold on.

 The final climb

27km to Charlotte’s Pass, but I could only power walk. Left foot swollen and sore. Tried to jog but too painful. Need to save myself for the summit I thought. An hour later and crew got news from the race Whatsapp that the race would be an ‘inclement weather finish’ too dangerous to summit Mt Kosci due to conditions (fog, ice, below zero amd a bit of wind) so with the 18km summit return cancelled (happens quite often) it was now just 18km to go and time to push a little.

 Temp still 3 degrees and getting cooler as we rose up the climbs. Rain now more like a light snow flurry

Passed Gerard Riordan who had been leading earlier but was now making slow progress  and spending time sitting on the road side.

Started eating some lollies for instant sugar. Stephen Redfern’s crew car kept driving up and checking me out – figured he must be getting closer. Just kept plugging up the road. Got to Perisher and just 8km to go.

Finally saw a group of cars in the distance at Charlottes Pass and the finish was close. Soon around the final corner and saw the finish line at the end of a longer straight of road. My crew drove up and parked up so we could all cross the finish line together. Suddenly they started sprinting back down which I thought was nice then realised they were pointing and waving, something was up ! Turned and Stephen Redfern  was suddenly 15m behind ! we hadn’t heard him as still had music playing. I got an adrenaline burst and shifted into a run and sprint and smashed the last 150m to break the tape (every finisher gets to break the tape, they deserve too)

What a day. Quick photos and celebration with Stephen and our crews but 0 degrees at Charlotte’s Pass and  so soon we were back in the cars and back down to Jindy. Stopped to chat to all the runners making their way up to the finish.

Final thoughts

What an awesome event. Huge physical and mental test, hillier than I realised but my patience paid off.

So chuffed to have earned my Akubra and joined the C2K family. The atmosphere at the race breakfast was brilliant and the race directors give a few min speech on each finisher and their journey.

Massive thanks to my awesome crew Chris, Adrian and Harry. Crewing at this event is also an awesome experience.

Fun facts

50 selected to race, 35 made the start line, 23 finished 

Managed 3:50 pace in last 150m when shaggy almost caught me !

Training kms YTD: 4,100

Race distance 222.1 (Kosciuszko summit cancelled due to visibility, temp and ice on track)

Elevation: gain- 5,300m, loss 3,500m

Time on feet: 29 hrs 17 mins 

Weather: rain, temp 7 at start, up to 13, 3-4 overnight, 3 at Jindy, 1 at Perisher, -1 at Charlotte’s Pass

Fastest km: 4:48

Slowest km: 15:30 

Shoes: Nike air zoom tempo next % for whole race. Had Pegasus and trail shoes but feet were good and didn’t change 

Time off feet: sat down in car twice for a sock change and wet kit change

Blisters: zero

Nutrition: first 3 hrs GI gel every 30 mins, next 9 hrs tailwind 250ml/1 scoop serve every 30 mins plus protein balls, bananas, salty crisps, protein bar. Then  back on to Gu gels. And through night 2 x cup of soup, 2 x cup of noodles 

CurraNZ: 10 total, 2 every 6 hrs

Wildlife crossing road: Roos, wombat, frogs, worms, snails, deer !